Forest Demon

Well, if we start to click, and the we see the team adhere to Neeld's gameplan for longer periods of time and get in and have a crack, then at least 6 of those games are very winnable. But in saying that, we will undoubtedly drop at least 1 or 2 of them, and realistically win another 3 or 4 for the year.

I thought the Locker Room idea had merit to discuss general form and performances etc, but there still needed to be the ability to start a new thread on the main board if something like news on a big injury or off field incident had surfaced, but as soon as someone would start a thread on the main board it would be shunted off to the locker room.

The Melbourne faithful should give James McDonald a standing ovation. The bloke is a great servant of the club, whether you agree or disagree with him being pushed into retirement, you can't argue he is a champion of our club, and if he had things his way, he would never have left the MFC. If any of our fans are stupid enough to boo him, I will personally tell them to lock it up. To be honest, I find myself just not giving a sh*t about Tom Scully. I thought I would be watching him, hoping he plays crap, or hoping he gets laid out, but for whatever reason I just don't care.

For the 1 millionth time on these boards, F/S bidding occurs before trade period to negate that exact situation.

Basically, assuming we finish 16th.... If GCS or GWS bid pick 1 or 2 on Viney - Picks 3 (Viney), 4, 12, 25 Or if GCS or GWS don't bid on Viney - Picks 3, 4, 12, 25 (Viney)

I really like Naitanui, love the excitement and interest he generates. The esteem some commentators already hold him in is over the top for what he has achieved so far, but he will go on to be a very good player. Even without 20+ touches he is still a very good tap ruckman, if you compare to say a Jamar who in his AA year only averaged 12 touches and was still regarded as having a great year because of his work in the centre square. Not interested in comparing to Watts and talking about who we should of taken, because as I have said a million times, we need to stop worrying about players we didn't draft and just start worrying about developing the players we have drafted.

The holding the ball rule/interpretation is completely ludicrous at the moment. May sound dramatic, but it is draining out any enjoyment I used to get from watching games, or more specifically neutral games, as I get so frustrated at the way they apply this rule. There is a serious issue when one player can run 10 metres, take on a couple of tacklers, someone sticks a tackle and ball spills free to a teammate and they can just carry on like nothing happened. And then conversely, a player can take control of a ball, be simultaneously wrapped up and get pinged for holding the ball. A good example was the Magner free kick in the 1st or 2nd quarter. Instead of reporting the usual dribble, the media needs to make this an issue and get some answers.

Played well in the pre-season aswell. Barring injury I would expect to see him play some games in the second half of the season. Between Davis, Sheahan and Cook in the VFL, and Tom McDonald in the firsts, we have a few interesting young talls worth keeping an eye on.

I looked into this as I was sure whether they were in the top certain percent of earners at a club had a bearing on whether they were unrestricted/restricted free agents. I am aware that restricted free agents means that Port would have the ability to match the offer, but was referring to what calssifies them as either restricted or unrestricted. Restricted free agents are players who have been at the club for 8+ years and are in the top 25% of earners at the club, while unrestricted are those who have been at the club 8+ years and are not in the top 25%. So this means Pearce is in the top 25% of earners at Port, meaning he is on a decent packet, while most other free agents from Port are unrestricted. Link to FA Rules: http://www.afl.com.au/tabid/208/default.aspx?newsid=130820

For me, if he was consistent and hard working he would be a top 20 player in the competition. But the fact is he isn't, so we need to ask ourselves do we have the culture to get the best out of him. He has some attributes we sorely lack at the moment such as pace and he is a beautiful kick, so if Neeld and co reckon they could get him playing consistently and get him at the right price than I wouldn't be against it. The other thing I notice is I think he is a 'restricted' free agent, which must mean he is in the top few earners at the club, meaning it would take a pretty big offer to get him, and I don't think I would be overly happy outlaying a huge amount on him.

Not sure if others have noticed this as much as I have, but as much as I love Nathan Jones, could someone please teach him the art of the pretend handball attempt when he is tackled to the ground, costs us a free kick nearly each week. Perhaps Jordie could take him aside and have a word, because he is a machine at it. But apart from that, as you were Nathan.

My Rundown On Commentary Duds FOX FOOTY Alastair Lynch - looks like he is going to pass out everytime he tries to construct a sentence, is a complete meathead Tony Shaw - has no idea about modern day football, some of his comments I would laugh at if he wasn't serious Danny Frawley - apart from being part of the worst scripted show on television in After The Bounce, he also has little clue Dwayne Russell - this bloke has about 10 sentences in his arsenal and can somehow manage to commentate 2 hours of footy using nothing but those sentences CHANNEL 7 BT - the other guys in the box want to talk footy, but this boof head just wants to crap on like they are sitting back at the pub watching the game on tv. If you want to go down the comedy route surely there are a million people who are funnier and know more about footy than this dunce Brett Kirk - harsh on Kirky as I love him, but he just sounds far too scripted, could almost imagine him doing a Ron Burgundy off the teleprompter if someone played a joke on him...I'm Brett Kirk? Any Current Player Drafted Into Friday Night Coverage - if I flick on the footy on Friday night and am greeted by Nick Maxwell's punchable head holding a microphone one more time, I am turning it off

Yeah well, can't say I was complaining too much when Clark got that free. The free was there as Dempsey clearly stepped across him as he was going at the ball, but he certainly made the umpire aware of it. I guess it is up the umpires to pick out frees like that without the player having to resort to throwing their arms up etc.

Jetta definitely is guilty of repeatedly diving, but come on, every team in the comp has a number of players who are doing this to some degree. For christs sake, Mitch Clark made a meal of the contact made to him by Dempsey in the 3rd quarter. Watts has a number of times thrown the head forward in the marking contest looking for the in the back. So let's just be consistent, and be ready to get stuck into our own if they are doing the same thing.

Even without Pendlebury and possibly Swan, they still have a quality midfield in Thomas, Sidebottom and Beams among others.

I think he would be a perfect fit for Melbourne and the way Neeld wants to play. Cloke would play CHF and could lead further up the ground, giving an option for our 'kick it long round the boundary' game style. Mark it, turn, and go long to Clark who is hard to beat one on one when the ball is put on top of his head. The fact he is a free agent would mean we can use our high picks on mids, mids and more mids.

Each to their own, but I see a big difference in rolling over and getting pumped by 100 points to battling bravely all day and being out classed by a strong opponent by a couple of goals. Especially given our current position.

Just noticed that last year we followed up our win against Essendon with the thumping on QB the next week. It is imperative that we see another 4 quarter effort. Even if that means an honourable loss, it will be very telling.

I remember watching the first quarter or two of the West Coast and I was amazed at how many times Frawley and others were closing down opponents and getting fists in when they had no right to. I thought these blokes are doing a great job down there, but the ball just kept coming back in repeatedly and with no pressure on the guy delivering it and eventually they were worn down and well beaten. More than ever, defence starts as soon as we lose the ball, and involves all 18 players on the park. The back 6 will always look good when the midfield is shutting down supply. In saying all that, it is nice having Watts delivering the ball out of the defence, as it inspires me with a lot of confidence. Same can't be said for McDonald. He is doing a great job on his opponent, but he looks incredibly shaky with the ball in his hands.

If those blokes had have ran on, given away an interchange infringement and 50 metres, and Dustin Fletcher slots a torpedo from 70 metres on the siren, I think I would have quietly turned my television off, never to watch or attend a game of football ever again.

Said it before, but he spent all pre-season playing back and looked ok and then as soon as the real stuff starts he goes forward, looked completely lost and was just generally not up to it. Goes back tonight and plays a pearler. Actually has a lot of good traits as a defender who can play on the resting ruckmen or gorilla forwards. Will watch with interest over the next few weeks, and hopefully he stays back.

Yep, he played on Monfries most of the night. BT and the other dimwits in the commentary box were too busy talking [censored] about each other to actually make any insightful comments on the game. Just wish they would cross to the boundary with Lingy and leave it with him, he is the only one who is interested in talking actual footy i.e. matchups etc.

Pretty much what I was thinking. If these two were somehow scientifically joined together they would be pretty much unstoppable. Love the way Hurley leads out and hits the ball and just crashes through any bodies in his way, but he lacks the polish with the ball that Jack has. Still not sure he is the better player, but he has strung some good games together down back over the last 3 weeks.

Rivers has been very good all year, and would be behind only Jones in the B&F so far this year.

I had a mate who loosely follows footy ask me whether we were going to fold, all because he had watched AFL 360 one night and apparently Mark Robinson had sunk the slipper into us. That is why I hate [censored] journalism, because people who don't know better believe what they hear or read, because they have no reason not to. Note: I'm not saying they shouldn't have a go at us about the state of our football team, and even certain ways the club is run, but there seems to be many out there who seem to think we are on life support as a club because it is sensational and sells papers.